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imjeralee · 4 years

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Wallflower: Chapter 12 - The Elusive Eli

Raihan x F!Reader

Disclaimer: Do not own Pokemon

Note: This is my first Pokemon fanfic. I hope you enjoy it :) Originally posted on Archive of Our Own.

Summary: You’re an unassuming Pokemon breeder who works at the nursery in the Wild Area and he’s Raihan, the fearsome gym leader of Hammerlocke who has more than a million followers. You don’t want anything to do with him but he’s…persistent.

Rating: Mature/Explicit

Warnings: Lemon, smut, violence, language

THE ELUSIVE ELI

...

He leaves the nursery, rubbing at his chin and jaw until he spots a familiar boy dressed in pink standing by a tree, smirking at him. The youth looks at him up and down, taking note of his rather bedraggled appearance and scoffs under his breath, "Well. Aren't you a sight for sore eyes?"

Eli joins his side and the two boys begin to make their way down the path. "What are you doing here, Bede?"

"Chairman Rose sent me to get you. We've to go to Motostoke. I saw you talking to Raihan and that girl. What was that all about?"

"Nothing."

“Nothing?"

Having been pressed, Eli relents. “Hmph. People like him really piss me off. He isn't anything special." He says with a scowl. Bede says nothing, except stare at him silently. Turning to Bede, Eli adds, "Don't associate yourself with the likes of them, Bede. The gym leaders - they're all a pathetic and pitiful lot. None of them are worthy of their titles. Work hard and don't show mercy to the weak. Don't forget that. Am I clear?"

"Yeah." Bede replies, "Crystal."

”Good.” With that, they continue their journey to the city.

You'll see, Eli thinks to himself, frowning, You'll all see. I'll become the most powerful trainer in Galar and you'll regret not choosing me, Rose.

...

With Eli gone, the nursery settles into a discomforting silence. You return Goomy and Dreepy into their pokeballs because they seem shaken by Eli's presence. It occurs to you that you have never seen Raihan angry before and you stare up at him as he watches the door, as though waiting for Eli to come back for seconds.

However, when nothing happens, his dark expression clears up and he turns to you with the biggest, cheesiest grin and coos at you, “Are you okay?”

You’re stunned at the quick turnaround until you slide your gaze to his hand and you gasp. “You’re bleeding!!! Oh wait, is that Eli’s blood?”

With an eyebrow raised, Raihan lifts his hand up where there’s a trickle of fresh blood over his knuckles. You don’t wait for him to respond - reaching for him, you tug on his clean hand and lead him inside the nursery.

“Am I allowed in here?” He asks, as you pass the storeroom and the nursery and towards the staff bathroom.

”Yes, of course.”

“Where’s your boss?”

”She went out and won’t be back anytime soon.”

Once you’re at the door, you push it open, revealing the cramped, tiny space but you usher him in and Raihan looks around himself - his back hits the sink and you stand in front of him, reaching for the medicine kit that sits on the shelf above the toilet. You rummage inside and pull out a plaster along with a few cotton pads, a roll of clean bandages and some cooling gel.

”Give me your hand.” You mutter, and Raihan obediently sticks his palm out for your taking and you scoop his hand into yours. You dampen the cotton wool pad and begin to carefully dab and smother at his bloodied knuckles. “Tell me if I hurt you by accident, okay?”

“Okay.” He observes you as you tend to him the entire time which you don’t notice because his hand looks like it’s turning purple and that doesn’t bode well. After you’ve cleaned the blood, you grab the cooling gel and apply it over his knuckles, spreading a thin layer and making sure to massage it thoroughly into his skin and when it dries, you grab the plaster and it’s then you notice that he’s staring at you with the same goofy smile and you feel your cheeks going a little warm.

”...W-what is it?” You ask; before he can respond however, and you automatically assume the worst. ”Did I hurt you by accident? I’m so sorry!”

”No, you're fine. You didn't hurt me.” He plops his other hand atop your head. “Don’t be silly.”

You mumble an 'okay' under your breath and continue dressing his hand and once you’ve tucked the bandage neatly into itself and tied the end so it won’t fall apart, you let go of him and Raihan inspects his bandaged hand. He only punched a dude in the face but you’re worried he injured himself when punching said dude.

“Thanks.” He grins at you widely as you pack away the med kit. “You’re good at this.”

”Well, baby pokemon falling off high shelves is a very common occurrence here.”

Raihan laughs before he reaches for you, pulling you into his embrace and holding you so tightly, you think your back might break in half. "Did he hurt you?" He murmurs as he lets out a gentle sigh, pressing his nose into your hair.

You shake your head; your face is pushed into his chest that it's getting hard to breathe. "No.” is your muffled response. You wrap your arms around his back, holding him tightly in return.

"Did he touch you?"

"Just my hair."

He loosens his grip slightly to peer at you, smoothing his large hand over your cheek before he leans forwards and plants a kiss on your mouth. "You're okay?" He murmurs, pressing his lips against yours once more.

"Yeah."

And he smooches you again but this time, he doesn't pull away and begins brushing the tip of his thumb over your bottom lip. "What did he say to you?" He says, between kisses.

You decide to pull away. "Uh...He said I'm nothing like your ex-girlfriend. That I'm not as pretty as her, that he didn't think you'd go for a girl like me. And he said it hadn't been long since your previous break-up so you probably weren't even over it and that you're just using me." You mutter, and you're quite amazed yourself that you remembered all that. It's then you realise that you feel quite upset. When you think about what you just said aloud, you had been compared to Raihan's ex-girlfriend. You didn’t even know he had an ex-girlfriend but you figured he would’ve...sighing, you inhale and exhale loudly as you throw your gaze to the floor.

For a while, you were feeling pretty awesome about yourself. There were a few hiccups along the way but everything seemed to work out fine - you were with Raihan, there were no problems with your work and your friends and family were fine also. However, it has taken one very negative experience to knock you off the pedestal of happiness.

Although you're aware that Eli has beef with Raihan and would probably use various tactics to get to him which may include getting into your head, you shouldn’t let his words get to you, but unfortunately they do. You don't know her or who she is and Raihan doesn't need to talk to you about his ex, or exes... but this hurts on a whole new different level and now you feel so insecure about...well, everything.

"Hey." Raihan says, cupping your cheeks again, "Look at me."

You slide your gaze to him slowly and your eyes meet.

"Eli's like that. He's even mean to Ball Guy." He mutters, but when he notices how despondent you are, he brings you into his embrace again and slides his arms around your shoulders tightly, giving you an affectionate rub. You let him hold you, closing your eyes before he adds, "Let's talk outside."

"....Okay." You mumble; he releases you so you can leave the bathroom, holding his hand and leading him outside to the back porch. It joins to the main nursery, so you make your way past some of the Pokemon who are too busy playing to notice you and you push the doors aside, revealing the large garden. You plop yourself down over the wooden floor, sitting cross-legged and so does Raihan, your knees knocking together.

"It's nice here." Raihan comments, before he takes out his phone and begins going through it. You're not sure what he's looking for, or what he's looking at but you decide not to pry.

"Yeah, it's really peaceful." You mutter, "Rai, you don't need to tell me about your ex-girlfriend if you don't want to. I'm okay, really."

He blinks blankly at you for a few seconds, before he casts his gaze to his lap. "Would it make you feel better if I told you though?"

"Um, well...I don't want you to be uncomfortable."

Now he chuckles, turning to you and ruffling your hair affectionately with his large hand. "You're so cute. You're always thinking about others instead of yourself." He says, and you blush like crazy as he clutches your hand and opens your palm, tracing his fingertips over the lines of your hand. "We weren't together for long. And we broke up a year ago."

Aha! Eli was just making porky pies to get to you, after all. Your breath gets caught in your throat as Raihan rubs your hand throughly. You don't know what to say... Maybe it's best to listen for now, so you stay silent.

"Everyone said we made a great couple." He adds, before his expression turns a tad stoic, "But it was a pretty stressful time for me."

"Stressful?"

"Yeah. She's on social media by the way so you'll find her easily. She's a lot different in-person than online, of course." He says this with a grin but somehow...you feel he’s smiling in spite of himself.

Online, huh? Your friend is really good at stalking people online so you could ask her for help later.

"We don't keep in touch." Raihan adds, before he lets go of your hand and suddenly moves to stand, looking around, "I should go. I don't want your boss to get you into trouble for me being here."

"Huh? Oh..."

You watch as he begins to fish around his pockets before he pulls something out. "Piers got me tickets to The Maximizers. He's the opening act and they're playing in Spikemuth tonight. Wanna go?" He hands you the tickets and you inspect them, your eyes bulging at the price tag. Also, they're VIP tickets... they're hard to get...

This must be the reason why Raihan dropped by your workplace in the first place. "Uh, tonight? It's a bit short notice but...sure. I got nothing better to do." You say, nodding.

He beams widely in response as you pocket your ticket. "I'll pick you up at seven."

"Okay."

"Great, see ya." Raihan brings you into another bone-crushing hug, pressing his lips against yours deeply - you melt against him at once - and then he lets go of you. "If Eli comes back, let me know."

"I'll be fine," You try to reassure him but nevertheless, Raihan seems adamant in protecting you from him. You lead him back to the main area but before he leaves, you bite down on your lip and grab his arm, "Wait."

He turns round and you gently slide your arms around his neck, pulling him down to your level as you go on tiptoe, leaning forwards; he blinks blankly at you for a split second before he grins and slips his arms around your waist, bringing you closer to him and your lips meet.

You feel him smirking against your lips as you kiss, and you kiss for a long time before finally parting; however, you don't let go of him and he doesn't let go of you - instead, you stay in his clutch as he presses his forehead against yours. His teal blue eyes gaze deeply into yours before he lowers his gaze to your lips, and back to you. You smile when he begins nuzzling you affectionately, occasionally brushing his lips over yours in a fleeting, teasing manner. It’s nice to be in his arms, to be held like this.

With much reluctance, you let go of him after what feels like an eternity and he does the same - as he leaves, you wave him off, sighing heavily as your heart flutters.

Your day continues and you're feeling lonely since Raihan left even though he sent you a message seconds after his departure, reassuring you again that Eli was nothing but a rat bastard. Very good. Now you wonder if it's right to ask your friend if she can do some snooping to find out more about the ex-girlfriend instead of asking Raihan directly but what the heck, you send her a message, asking if she knows anything about her. And then you resume work.

"Bzrt, new mezzzage from Allister!"

"Thanks, Rotom." You check the message; Allister says they're attempting to identify the body in the woods using dental records - he'll keep you posted. You purse your lips in response, "Hm...guess that's kind of...good to know."

Earnestly, it's all very macabre and you can't help but feel a bit disturbed. The encounter with Eli has also put you into a questionable mood and it's not even lunchtime yet. Your boss is still in Hammerlocke, informing you that she won't be back until after lunch so you'll be on your own for a while. A few customers enter the establishment and you deal with them all; you go to retrieve their pokemon whilst they wait.

Once you collect the pokeballs, you hear the front door being pushed open yet again, and you return to the main area just to see two new customers - there's a familiar girl standing behind the counter - Cheerleader Alicia. She spots you and in return, you stare at her akin to a Stantler caught in headlights. Shit, what the heck is she doing here?

"Oh my, so this is where you work?" She says, lifting one hand to cover her mouth, hiding a sneer. She's first in the queue and the customer behind her in line is a middle-aged woman who dropped off an Azurill, but Alicia's first and you really don't want to serve her.

"Yes, how may I help you?" You ask, a little warily.

"Hmmm. Let me think." She replies, fumbling in her bag for a pokeball which she proceeds to place onto the counter. "Here. Look after my Zebstrika for me. I'll come back for him in a few days or so. I expect him to be well taken care of. Actually, I'd like him to be EV-trained. I heard you're the EV trainer around these parts."

"Yeah, that's right."

"How much do you charge?"

"It's a daily rate of five hundred pokedollars." You state, gesturing to the sign that's taped to the wall that details all the prices.

"Five hundred pokedollars? That's expensive."

"Um, that's the standard rate across all - "

"Where's the manager? I want to talk to her."

"She's not here."

"Then you're not getting my business. I'm not paying money for that, it sounds like a complete scam." She adds, and she says this quite loudly and nonchalantly whilst throwing glances to the other customers in the nursery, as though she's trying to rile them up. However, she's just met with blank stares but she seems satisfied that she's creating a scene, which is totally unnecessary and you feel she isn't here to drop her Pokemon off at all. "On second thought, I don't want you looking after my pokemon."

You remain silent, unsure what to say as you feel all eyes on you. You feel your cheeks grow hot and bite down on your lip, embarrassed by the way she has spoken to you. You're not in the same mood as you were when you dealt with that angry customer the other day, no.

You've returned to being quiet and shy and anxious and now you're not quite what to say to her. You shouldn't let her see you like this though and remembering the general policy on how to deal with upset customers, you mutter, "I-if you're not happy with our service, you can write or call up Macros Cosmos."

"Fine then, maybe I will." She adds, before she spins on her heel to leave.

The nursery grows silent when she exits and the next customer steps up to the counter. "What a horrible girl." says the woman, "No manners whatsoever."

"O...Oh, well, we get all kinds of customers." You say, laughing awkwardly. As usual, you’re trying to lighten up the situation by downplaying it.

After you've helped the rest of the customers, you're left doing some washing up on your own, re-thinking about what Alicia said to you. Her words repeat endlessly in the recesses of your mind over and over again, along with every little detail - from her stupid sneer, her spiteful stare and the poisonous words that escaped her vile mouth.

You should've told her it's the standard charge rate for EV training and if she doesn't like it, then tough, it's her problem and not yours or the nursery. Oh, and that she is an annoying wee bitch. Yeah, maybe that too.

"Goddamnit." You mutter to yourself, your fist clinching around the sponge, causing bubbles to ooze out all over your rubber glove. "I should've said that. Why didn't I say that? Goddamnit."

It's too late to say anything now, and you're probably going to be up all night re-thinking about this. Lord help you. Shaking your head, you begin rinsing the dishes until the front door opens once more and you turn round to see a very familiar customer - if you recalled correctly, it's the angry man whose Thievul you looked after before he began complaining and screaming to your boss and yourself.

Oh shit, what is he doing here? Worse thing is, he's not alone. There's three big and burly men with him - they're all punks - and they're definitely not here to drop off any Pokemon.

Before you can even speak, the man gestures to his group and quickly issues a command: "Let's trash this place, boys!!!"

Eyes wide, you hastily put down the dish you're cleaning as soon as the group begins to tear down posters, overturn furniture and throw objects over the floor of the nursery.

"What are you doing?!" You shout in alarm; you attempt to leave the kitchen but you have no choice but to stop and duck behind the counter as someone throws a potted plant which promptly smashes against the wall, smearing the wallpaper with muck. You peek over the counter, ducking once more as the berry planter is picked up next and tossed towards your direction. You can hear the Pokemon crying in distress from inside the nursery due to the loud noise.

Before you can release Haxorus, you hear the door opening and it's your boss. "What in the shitting hell is going on here?!" She shrieks, as the group of men turn to her. "Fluffy, Scruffy, go!" She tosses two pokeballs into the air, releasing two Houndoom who snarl and bark loudly at the men when they emerge from their capsules. "Get 'em!"

"Let's get outta here!" The men make a run for it, pursued by the Houndoom and their flamethrower attacks. You peer out from the counter, watching the dark pokemon chase after the three men through the Wild Area.

The nursery grows quiet as your boss makes her way to the counter and spots you on the floor, shaking like a leaf. "Hen, are you okay?!"

You shake your head as she helps you up to stand; you're still trembling, your face pale.

"It's okay, those horrible men are gone now." Your boss dusts you down, trying to smile, "What were they doing here?"

"I-I don't know, they just came and started trashing the place. Sorry, they scared me. I'm so glad you're here."

"It was that horrible man with the Thievul from the other day, wasn't it? Chairman Rose will hear about this!!" Your boss mutters angrily under her breath. "Fluffy, Scruffy - get over here, now!" Your boss whistles and the two Houndoom abruptly return to the nursery. Once they arrive, they stop in front of the two of you and sit on their haunches, heads up high. "Good boys." You watch as your boss strokes their horns before she goes to the fridge and pulls out two large, raw steaks which she promptly tosses and the Houndoom snap their jaws as they catch one each, tearing into the meat with their sharp fangs.

"I didn't know you had Houndoom, boss." You utter, rubbing your elbow.

"They're good boys. I don't like to use 'em much but from now on, I'll get them to guard the nursery." Your boss says, squatting down beside her pokemon. As her Houndoom growl and snarl, she smiles at them and pats them affectionately. "I'm sorry I didn't come sooner. Did anything else happen?"

"Um....Eli came this morning."

There's a brief silence.

"Eli?"

"Yeah."

"Oh..." She mutters, "I see. Did he say anything to you? About me? About coming home?"

"...Um, well, he asked where you were and I told him you were in Hammerlocke on a few errands."

"What else?"

"Uh, then he told me that he was your son."

"Oh." She says again. "Okay. Alright." The nursery grows silent once more and you're getting the feeling that they really don't have a great relationship. Your boss sweeps her hair back and sighs heavily. "Thanks, hen. I should've told you earlier, right?"

"Huh? N-No, don't say that, it's your family stuff - it-it's none of my business, honestly..."

She nods and smiles weakly, "Yes, but Eli is quite the troublemaker. I always had a hard time dealing with that boy. I mean, he even ran away from home once and didn't come back for a long time." She says, shaking her head, "My family are all pokemon breeders, hen, and we always have been - one generation after the other - but I guess my son doesn't want to follow in our footsteps. He wanted to be a gym leader. He wanted to be gym leader so badly."

You're not sure what to say in this situation and a silence spawns.

"Ah well, it's nothing for you to worry over, hen. Don't mind me! Oh my, would you look at that! It's getting late, let's get a move on, shall we?" Your boss quickly averts her gaze to the clock on the wall and smiles widely at you. You can only smile weakly in response and you both begin to tidy up the nursery.

...

It's after work when you receive an update from your friend.

It's the information she managed to find on Raihan's ex-girlfriend online. She's sent you a few links to several articles, some photos and also her social media account. You find your eyes glued to the screen as you press on the first link - it's her social media account and you see that she has more than a thousand photos and over a million followers. Hot damn. Her trainer class is Beauty/Model.

It's worse than you thought, you realised. Her recent photo is a selfie which you click on - and you see that she is an extremely beautiful young woman, smiling sweetly at the camera. She has a rounded face but pointed chin, large eyes and a nice smile. But then you see she’s wearing this low cut top and the large amount of cleavage she's showing is astronomical and the comments below - oh, boy.

Most of them are from thirsty males who respond to her photo with the emoji of an aubergine or three sweat drops or the lips showing tongue. She's also deliberately showing her hand, her palm poised under her chin with her lips apart, showing some pearly white teeth. On one of her fingers is a ring with a massive diamond sitting on top.

So, this is Raihan's ex-girlfriend.

You scroll through the rest of her feed to see more selfies and some photos of makeup products, electric type pokemon, more selfies of herself with other people (including Cheerleader Alicia, funnily enough) and also some photos where it's quite obvious it's an advert. There's also photos of her in various beach resorts.

There are no photos of herself and Raihan. You didn't know Raihan's ex-girlfriend was a social media model. On the other hand, and if this is relevant at all, you recall Raihan's interview about his ideal type of woman and....well, you don't share any of the same traits with her, appearence-wise. She's a highly successful woman and you click another recent photo which is a selfie of herself with Elesa, the gym leader of Nimbasa City in Unova.

Intimidated and overwhelmed by everything, you leave her social media account and click on the article. It's dated one year ago and it illustrates how she's engaged to a rich, but old, tycoon from Kalos but she won't quit her job - she's a makeup artist, model, beauty blogger, travel vlogger and also, she is a trainer who works in Nimbasa City gym. That's quite the list. What happened to Raihan then?

You find the next article and this time, it's about Raihan and it's dated even far back. It's the first dating rumours that emerged, revolving around the dragon tamer of Galar and the article outlines how they've been seen together on several occasions and netizens and fans alike are speculating that they're dating and have been for a while.

The more you read it, the more it's getting rather difficult. Unable to read the rest of the article and the remainder of the information your friend has gathered for you, you close the pages and look away from your phone. You can't help but wonder what Raihan likes about you and what he sees in you.

You thank your friend and you see she's typing a message. You wait for her reply, but to your surprise, she calls you so you pick up, "Hey." You greet her, trying to sound cheerful.

"Hey, you okay?"

"Y-yep, of course."

"What the - no, you're not."

"I can't help it." You moan, "Look at her! She's a bloody supermodel!"

"You know, somehow I pictured Raihan’s ex to be exactly like that and I wasn’t wrong."

"She's really pretty, like...insanely pretty."

"Yeah, I mean...it's Raihan, what were you expecting? He's hot stuff and she's hot stuff. She's from Elesa's gym for Raticate's sake. Everyone knows all the trainers from that gym are supermodels.”

"....Yeah, I know."

"It's like looking at my freaking yearbook and my high school reunion all over again - you know, all the hot, popular students and the nerds? They're the popular kids and we're the nerds. Popular kids don't end up with the nerds!"

You sigh heavily as some bad memories begin to resurface. "We're not in school anymore and things are... different, when you're in the real world."

"Yeah, I really wish school gave us some more life skills. But...just because she looks happy doesn't mean she actually is. Who knows? Maybe she's actually miserable deep inside.

People like to post up the good stuff. It's like that person I know who posted up those photos of himself riding Rhyhorns in Spikes Passage, climbing Mt Coronet, and building a goddamn school from scratch for orphans!!! When I saw that, I was...I was like lost, for a long time. I was thinking 'man, what the hell am I doing with my life? I'm so fucking useless'."

"Uh, actually...I'm pretty certain she's happy."

"Look, don't compare yourself to her. She doesn't have what you have - she doesn't have Raihan, you do. You're the one he's with, you're the one he wants to be with. Not her. I know his ex married a richer, older dude, but still."

Your voice grows weak. "Oh.”

“Unless you’re gonna go off and marry an older, richer dude too - ”

“NO!!!!" You're on the verge of screaming down the phone, but you manage to calm yourself in time, "I would never do that to him! I love - um, I like him. I like Raihan a lot, we've done a lot of stuff together and he's such a sweetheart." You quickly babble, "Er...I gotta go now actually; we're meeting up."

"Alright, I'll talk to ya later. And don't compare yourself to her. Just because you don't look like her or you're not doing what she's doing, doesn't make you unworthy of Raihan or less valuable than she is."

You're surprised by her words and you hesitate, holding your breath, "Okay." You finally squeak out, "...Thanks for everything."

"No sweat. Bye."

...

You're running late due to overtime and it's most likely you've missed the first ten minutes of the concert. Raihan doesn't seem to mind and informs you that he's waiting for you at Hammerlocke pokemon centre so you can both head to Spikemuth together; when you arrive, he's looking at his phone which he gingerly puts away when he spots you.

"Rai!" You exclaim, and he grins widely as you hastily make your way over.

"Hey." He greets you casually and wraps an arm around you; you freeze up on the spot slightly but he doesn't seem to notice.

"Ugh, I had such a shit day today." You groan as he holds you in his arms. It's not like you to complain, but damn, you really had a shit day.

"What happened?"

"Well, first there was Eli, then Alicia came and harassed me a while, then the angry customer from last time came - but with some other punks - and trashed the place. I had to clean it all up."

"Alicia came?"

"Yeah, she came to insult me, the nursery and our prices and then left."

Raihan rubs the back of his neck. "...I'm sorry that happened. I'll have a word with her tomorrow."

You end up sighing. "It's...ugh, honestly, it's fine. Damn, I...I think I need a drink."

"Let's go to Spikemuth."

"Okay."

After calling the Corviknight taxi, it takes you to the small town in a matter of minutes and if your mum knew you had set foot in here not once but twice, she wouldn't be happy at all. You're unfortunately fifteen minutes late into the concert and you feel so rotten that you've made Raihan late too - it's beginning to eat you up inside even though Raihan assures you a few times that he doesn't mind.

The concert is being held in the same nightclub where you met him which doesn't exactly tickle your fancy but hell, you probably need a lot of drink tonight and to let off some steam.

The venue is already packed to the brim - it's full of fans of The Maximisers and Piers alike and they are screaming, waving their banners and blowing into kazoos, throwing middle fingers and signs of the horns into the air and it's so noisy you think your eardrums might explode.

In the darkness, the bouncers and their Machokes let you in and you and Raihan blindly enter the VIP section where you're incredibly close to the stage - you can see Piers close up.

He's already singing and he’s supported by two guitarists and a drummer in the back; he spots Raihan and waves lightly, acknowledging your presences before he returns to entertaining the crowd with ear-pounding, head-thrashing rock music, belting out dark lyrics that goes well with the music. You glance around yourself awkwardly as you're jostled all over from the enormous crowd - the majority of the fans are big, hulking men with spiked hair and tattoos all over their arms and chests. Raihan's having no difficulty here at all - he's tall enough to rise above the crowd.

Suddenly, the music begins to grind to a slow and steady beat with the guitarists playing a riff with deep, bass undertones. You don't feel like you belong here at all and Raihan yells something but you don't hear him.

"What?" You shout, pointing to your ear, indicating that you can't hear him well over the loud music. He repeats himself but you still can't hear.

"I want to thank everyone for coming here today," Piers' amplified voice is carried over the music, the microphone emitting some feedback and you glance at the stage, "In a few minutes, The Maximisers are gonna come on stage. But before we do that, let's give them a warm welcome the traditional Spikemuth way - I want some of you to go over that side and the rest of you to go there. You all know what this means, right?"

Wait, what? A warm welcome, the Spikemuth way? What the heck does that mean? However, everyone else seems to know and you're left in the dark (quite literally) as the crowd begins to divide, parting like the Red Sea and soon, the crowd is split into two sections. You look around awkwardly; everyone has this...strange grin and glint in their eyes. What the heck is going on?

"Alright, it's looking good." Piers says as he assesses the crowd with a smile, "Good job, everybody. Now...Are you ready??!!!" He shouts out all of a sudden, and you look up at the stage, eyes wide. Holy Moltres, what is happening?

He's greeted with a mixture of bellowing, roaring and jumbled 'hell yeahs' from the audience and it's then you realise, turning to Raihan with your mouth agape. "Raihan, we need to get outta here! I think we're in the - "

You're interrupted when Piers yells into the microphone and the crowd begins to charge towards each other.

"MOSH PIT!!!!!!"

It's chaos. Piers thrashes his head up and down, and the drummer and guitar players begin thrumming their fingers over their instruments maniacally, blasting out heavy metal music; the small, cramped space is consumed with cheers and screams as the section soon turns into a warzone.

The two sections soon clash and fans begin pulling hair, punching bellies, knocking out teeth and slamming elbows into one another and you cling onto Raihan who pulls you out of the crowd and pushes through the crazed fans; you're safe in his arms, thank Arceus, and he steers you towards the bar and away from the madness. Aside from the concert, the nightclub is still busy with its regular patrons so you quickly find an empty spot at the bar counter where a few Jynx are helping create ice cubes for drinks.

"We made it! We're alive!" You exclaim with relief as you stare wide-eyed at the fighting fans, you then turn to Raihan, noticing he's chuckling at you. "What? What is it? Is it my hair? It's my hair, isn't it?" You palm the top of your head worryingly but Raihan casually saunters to your side and begins smoothing your hair down with his large hands.

"Want a drink?" He murmurs, throwing his glance to the bartender.

"Alright, give me something strong. I think I need it."

He chuckles again and lets go of you to wave a hand, and the bartender is summoned in seconds despite being in the middle of serving another customer. "Yes, Mr Raihan, sir?"

"Any recommendations for a strong drink?"

"Er, well, the strongest drink we have is the Death in the Morning, it's got a teeny tiny quantity of Seviper venom in it so, er...yeah, it's pretty lethal. Won't kill ya, but you might have a helluva hangover next day. Also makes folks hella horny too. Don't say we didn't warn ya."

Raihan doesn't look too impressed and you definitely don't want to be steaming drunk or mega horny for the rest of the night, so you check the menu and decide to order a not-so-lethal drink, a Bounsweet Bomb. It sounds pretty safe...and you believe it shouldn't be too difficult for you to hold down. After all, it's a drink that'll come in a shot glass and it's made with Cheri berries. Sweet!

"And what will you have, Mr Raihan, sir?" The bartender asks, after taking down your order.

"Just the usual, thanks."

"Got it."

You notice Raihan has put your drink on his tab, so you thank him and he merely grins at you. Soon, another bartender shows up with your drinks - a small shot glass filled with a golden liquid is presented to you, along with Raihan's drink - which is just a typical beer - and you both clink glasses before drinking. You tip it into your mouth and it burns the back of your throat as it sloshes down your gullet, leaving a trail of fire down your windpipe in its wake. Sweet Foongus, it's strong! You accidentally choke as it settles in your stomach, which you feel is burning.

"Wait." You utter with your eyes narrowed, realising something feels wrong, "I didn't taste any cheri berries."

Raihan quirks a brow. "That wasn't your drink?" He says, and he waves his hand again; the bartender who took your order comes scurrying over.

"Yes, Mr Raihan, sir?"

"We've been served the wrong drink."

The bartender grabs the empty glass and sniffs it, then turns round. "Oi, who served this?"

A random server - the one who just served you, actually - comes over. "Uh, that would be me, sir."

"She ordered a Bounsweet Bomb. This is NOT a Bounsweet Bomb."

"Huh? And not the Death in the Morning?"

"Good heavens, lad! You muppet, you absolute numpty! No! Yer such a bampot!"

"I'm so sorry!"

The bartenders bicker and then apologise profusely to Raihan over the mixup - and the dragon tamer accepts the apology with no qualms. As you gradually become lightheaded, Raihan says, “I'll take you to the VIP section where you can sit down.”

Lifting you off your seat, he meticulously leads you away from the bar and towards a dark corridor where the entrance is guarded by a huge bouncer and his Hitmonlee. Your head's beginning to throb viciously, your senses dulling and the floor spinning - your legs will go under in a matter of seconds if you don't hold onto something, so you cling onto Raihan the entire time. The man lets you in after seeing Raihan and you're led further inside where you see a large but empty room full of comfy sofas and fancy drapes. You see a bar area here too but it's also devoid of any staff. You thought you'd stop here but Raihan continues leading you to a small, secluded space. “In here.”

”Huh?” You squeak, as Raihan lifts up the curtain and gestures for you to head inside. You duck underneath the lacy trimming and he follows, and you see it’s just an empty booth with plush seats. Ah, wait, you remember - you made out with Raihan on a couch like this one that night and you think he realises this too. You stare at your surroundings; you're numb all over and you're surprisingly weightless...

"You okay?" He asks, but his voice is distorted and his words echo loudly.

"Yeah, I'm okay..." You nod limply as he sits down on the sofa and you join him, climbing into his lap instinctively and settling yourself against him. He chuckles at your forwardness and adjusts you comfortably, drawing you into his chest. You snuggle against him, burying your face into his neck and he holds you, rubbing your arm up and down in an effort in keeping you warm.

You guess you have no choice but to sit it out and wait until you're better; however your body feels hot and sweaty all over, your head throbs and Raihan's neck looks very inviting - you reach over and slip your arm around his neck, propping yourself up properly before you lean forwards and press your lips over his flesh.

He tenses under you and throws a questioning glance but you're busy occupying yourself. Your head is woozy as he utters your name but you merely push yourself further into his chest, holding him tightly as you begin to kiss the side of his face and jaw aggressively. It's the drink, it's the goddamn drink. Goddamn Seviper venom drink is making you frisky. Goddamn Seviper drink is making you hot all over. Raihan plucks your hand off his neck and you whine in frustration.

"You're not thinking straight..." You hear him muttering incoherently, but you don't care.

You move your lips from his jaw and cheeks and finally to his mouth, pressing sweet kisses again and again, cupping his face with one hand and pushing his headband off his forehead with your other hand before you decide to encircle your arms around the back of his neck again, tilting your head to the side as you push your lips against his roughly.

You hear him sighing and it's not long until Raihan wraps his arms around your waist and props you up once more; you break apart, your eyes meeting for a split second before he leans over, his lips claiming your neck. You moan softly, closing your eyes as his hot lips nibble and suck on your flesh gently. You can’t help but giggle as his hair tickles your chin and you slip your fingers through his dreadlocks. You let him kiss you, holding him tightly until he stops, and looks up.

"What's wrong?" You mumble, rubbing at your eyes. Your neck feels very wet and tender.

"I saw Eli." Raihan mutters.

"Where?"

"Over there."

You follow to see where he's gazing off to and it's then you spot a familiar figure through the lacy curtain. This familiar person is lurking around in the back, far away from your booth and heading towards the corridor - it's Eli. The blond-haired young man looks around left and right before hurrying away from your sight. "Oh? He's at the concert too? What's he in such a hurry for? That's awfully shady."

"I don't think he saw us."

"...You wanna follow him?" You add, grinning.

Raihan looks at you, brow raised.

You laugh in response. "We should! I don't have a good feeling about that guy."

"I don't think anyone does, princess."

"C'mon, let's follow him."

You climb out of his lap and you have the inkling that Raihan's moral compass is wavering towards 'don't follow Eli' but you're already tiptoeing towards Eli's direction so he can only sigh and follow after you. "Careful..." He mutters as he holds your hand; you both leave the private booth, making your way towards the corridor where you saw Eli venturing into, avoiding the fans as they squabble and brawl. "We can't be seen."

"Yep yep."

Everyone's too busy with the concert and mosh pit to notice the pair of you sneaking round the back. The Maximisers have appeared on stage now anyway, capturing everyone’s attention. You pass the mosh pit and into the corridor where Eli wandered off, stopping when you see Eli just a few feet away. You're getting too close now, so it's best to wait for him to move further. Raihan pulls you behind a pillar with him, and lets you peek out occasionally to watch his retreating back.

The distance between you grows bigger and bigger; he's at the end of the corridor now and you realise it's the fire exit. He opens the door, pushing down on the bar, and leaves.

You and Raihan quickly abandon your spots and rush down the corridor, opening the door a tiny fraction and as quietly as possible, inching outside and glancing around warily. It's frigid outdoors and the music's quieter now that you're outside. Before any of you can move, you pick up the sound of distant conversation and Raihan spots Eli standing in the entrance to an alleyway across the street from the nightclub, speaking to a group of three men all dressed in black.

"Over here." Raihan pulls you over to hide behind a large dumpster that's conveniently to your left; it smells terrible but there's enough hiding space for the two of you - you see a few Garbador and Trubbish waddling around awkwardly, feasting on the smelly, dirty trash that's left discarded on the ground but they don't pay any notice to you.

"Do you think he saw us?" You whisper, as Raihan pulls you up against him; your back hits his chest as he holds you, arms around your shoulders.

"Don't think so." Raihan utters, peering out cautiously.

"Wonder what they're talking about. It's probably a bunch of bad guy stuff."

You both watch Eli speaking to the group before each of the men reveal that they are holding large bags - Eli reaches for them and opens them one at a time briefly, and quickly closes them - however, you still managed to spot the strange black rocks along with the brief red glow in each sack and it occurs to you that it's full of Wishing pieces. Eli takes all the bags, fumbles in his pockets and lifts out a bulging wad of cash which he hands to the men. The group converse more before quietly dispersing, splitting up into different directions.

Eli doesn't return to the bar however, and when it grows silent, you and Raihan exchange quick glances before you utter, "I thought he was doing drugs, honestly."

...

#Raihan x reader #raihain #Raihan x you #jeralee #pokemon #pokemonshield #pokemonsword #pokemon shield and sword #archiveofmyown #fic #fanfic #wallflower

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